Are you receiving something in return? If not, who’s to blame? Believe it or not, it could be your fault. You may think you have the excuse of not being a native digital. But you don’t. Because you still have one big advantage: shared knowledge. And I’m ready to prove that by showing you some valuable examples from Peg Samuel & Matthew Capala‘s Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5.

“Make no mistake; this is no ‘Facebook for dummies.’ We wrote Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5 to serve as the ultimate social media training system for businesses and entrepreneurs who are smart beginners. They want results now and don’t want to wait months to get profitable on Facebook.” This is how Samuel and Capala present their book.

SHAREABILITY SCIENCE / FACEBOOK MARKETING LIKE I’M 5

“Consider your Facebook page to be an extension of your other digital brand efforts.”

Peg Samuel, an adjunct Professor at New York University and founder of Social Diva Media, is known as a leader in online brand building and digital strategy, with over twenty years of experience in the digital marketing arena.

We’ve already written about Matthew Capala in a previous post – SEO Like I’m 5: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization. A brief recap: Capala is an Internet entrepreneur, growth consultant, international speaker, trainer, author, and founder of Alphametic.

Their book, Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5, is a practical guide to using social media for your business advantage. So let’s dig a little into its content and find out how things should look like in the Facebook world.

When it comes to Facebook there are certain questions that come to mind, questions that Samuel and Capala turned into topics.

Question 1: Is it for me?

The answer is YES if you’re:

a business owner

entrepreneur or startup founder

representing a brand or a corporation

celebrity, author, artist, public personality

blogger

marketing/social media specialist

student

Question 2: Should I believe the myths about Facebook or do what my social media instinct tells me to do?

There are 5 popular myths about Facebook. Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5 debunks all of them.

Myth #1 More posts = more likes

The truth: “Posting too often, or posting uninteresting, irrelevant content, is the top reason that people will unlike your page and shut you out of their conversations.”

Myth #2 Everyone sees my posts

The truth: Not anymore. Nowadays only 1% of your fans will see any of your posts, unless they’re boosted.

Myth #3 See it and forget it

The truth: “Facebook rewards brands that respond, and respond quickly, to consumers and prospects with a chance to display a “Very responsive to messages” badge on their profiles.”

Myth #4 Build it and they will come

The truth: “Once your page is launched, its URL needs to be listed in all of your marketing materials, linked to from your website, and installed in your email template. The most successful businesses are the ones that best integrate their social channels with their pre-existing marketing channels.”

Myth #5 Engage! It’s social media

The truth: “To create any kind of high-quality, authentic dialogue, you must ENGAGE with your audience.”

A piece of advice: don’t be a social media sinner. Remember the 7 deadly Facebook sins:

Talking like a robot

Going hashtag-crazy ######

Deleting posts

Being boring or overly “salesy”

Forgetting that content is global

Making bad jokes

Looking for shortcuts

Question 4: How can I deal with my fears and my social media dilemmas? To keep things as they are or to build? To share or not to share? To boost or not to boost?

Focus your attention on actionablethings, like:

applying the K.I.S.S. principle – keep it simple, stupid;

creating a full package of info in only one page;

consolidating by having your fans in the same place;

merging to remove redundant pages;

keeping personal and business pages separate.

Question 5: What bus should I take to go from 1K to 10K followers?

Your lucky bus is called CONTENT. Use it well and the rewards will be exactly what you expect them to be. 5 key things to keep in mind during your journey:

Words don’t write themselves, and the impact won’t come only because you’ve posted some phrases on your timeline. Create authentic and valuable content that responds to your audience’s needs and expectations.

Design an editorial calendar based on Evergreen content + campaigns.

It’s hard to picture something without an actual picture. So, never post content without an image.

Don’t let your Facebook buttons gather dust. You have a schedule option for a reason. Use it!

Post-and-run is not a smart strategy. Post, and wait for some reactions. Engage with your followers – that’s the way things should work on your page.

These may be not all the questions you have related to Facebook, but fear not. Samuel and Capala also address topics like advertising on Facebook and understanding Facebook.

Facebook Marketing Like I’m 5 will help you become a social media pro in no time. In the end, you’ll come to same conclusion as the authors:

“Data is everything when it comes to digital. When you’re a pro on Facebook, number crunching is ‘an inside job’.”